Great In Your Midst

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Ordinary 33

Jerusalem Baptist Church (Emmerton), Warsaw

Isaiah 12

You will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me. ²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. ³With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

⁴And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. ⁵Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. ⁶Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

The socialists have taken over! 

They are going to run this country into the ground!  Thank God for the Tea Party coming through to stop them!

Muslims are going to impose Sharia law in Dearborn Michigan! 

First an Islamic Center, next a mosque at Ground Zero!

Illegal immigrants are taking away our jobs, raping our women, selling drugs and doubling the crime rate!! 

The fat cats on Wall Street put us in this economic crisis, took the bailout money, and have YET to invest in creating jobs and getting our economy back and running.

That is by no means a comprehensive list of sound bites and headlines that I’ve seen and heard over the past few months, but you get the idea. 

Depending on the station we tune into, there is no shortage of voices that are more than willing to point out things that are wrong – or going wrong – with our country. 

Indeed, if it’s not wrong, it doesn’t seem to be news.  But that is the nature of the business of media news outlets.  First and foremost, they are a business.  And good news doesn’t sell, doesn’t, by definition, cause as much anxiety, or cause us to run to the nearest sane-sounding voice – even though it may be the furthest THING from sane – and find in that person’s words a semblance of comfort. 

If things are bad, they are going to get progressively worse.  That will keep you coming back for more, keep you updated on the latest scandal, the latest terrible decision, the latest abuse and it will … what?

Keep you in the loop?  Help you know what to expect?  Give you a heads-up on what the next major tragedy to befall our nation will be, or better yet, give you the information you need to AVOID that terrible disaster, while letting all the unsuspecting masses suffer? 

As you’ve heard me say before, human nature has not changed appreciably in the last several thousand years.  We still worry.  We still plot and plan, we still look for our best outcome, we still tend to shy away from problems that are not easily solved.  We still would rather choose to put on a happy face and hide our pain and our sorrow and our withered spirits rather than take the time to engage in the conversation that would reveal our true state of mind and heart. 

"I will trust, and will not be afraid"

These words in verse 2 were spoken by the prophet Isaiah to the people of Judah and Jerusalem more than twenty seven hundred years ago, when the Assyrian Empire was the dominant power, and Judah lived in the shadow of its might.

Foreign invaders, political instability, and crises of one kind or another formed the context of Isaiah's proclamation. The people to whom he was sent and those for whom this book was originally composed lived in a world that was unpredictable and out of their control. 



The front page of the newspaper and the crawl at the bottom of the television newscast suggest that in many ways our own world is quite similar to theirs. To be sure, the details are different – the Taliban was not a threat to Judah in the days of Isaiah, and Assyria does not dominate our own headlines – but the news of the day reminds us that always there are events happening on a scale far beyond our reach and our ability to control them.

Whether the threat is widespread, such as the worldwide economic crisis, or whether it is personal, such as illness, the loss of a job or the death of a loved one, it is no small thing to stare the menace in the face and say, "I will trust, and will not be afraid."


This passage – the twelfth chapter of Isaiah – is composed of two songs, each beginning with the phrase, "You will say in that day" (12:1, 4): "that day," when the pride of everyone shall be humbled and the Lord alone will be exalted as we find in chapter 2, verses 11 & 17; "that day," when people will throw away their idols of silver and gold, as we see in chapter 2, verse 20; "that day," when God will bring judgment against the women and men of Zion as we read in chapter 3, verses 16-26, or when those who remain are called holy, which we find in chapter 4 verses 2 & 3. "That day" is a day of judgment and salvation, a day that calls God's people forward, beckoning us to live into its reality in the present moment, no matter the circumstances.

The first song in this passage (verses 1-2) is sung by an individual offering thanksgiving for deliverance by the God who is "my salvation".  The "you" addressed in verse 1 is singular, as are the pronouns in both verses one and two.   Although the individual is not identified, the end of the song hearkens back to the deliverance from Egypt, quoting Exodus 15:2: "The Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation" (verse 2b; cf. Psalm 118:14).  Some scholars wonder if the individual could be Isaiah himself, whose own name means "God is salvation."

The image is one of a great warrior, one who is strong enough to defeat even the armies of Pharaoh in order to free the people from slavery in Egypt. To anyone who is caught up in fear, this echo from the Exodus and all the events attending it is a reminder that earthly powers cannot defeat the power of God. 



The second song offers a refrain of Thanksgiving to the "Holy One of Israel", the one whose "name is exalted" and who "has done gloriously". Isaiah calls on the people to lift their voices in praise to God: "Give thanks...sing praises...shout aloud and sing for joy!" This is a communal song ("you" is plural, as are the verbs in this section), as if a whole choir has joined voices with the soloist who sang in the first two verses. No longer is there a lone voice singing out against fear, as though whistling in the dark, but rather a chorus of voices offering praise for all that the Lord has done. "Make known his deeds among the nations," they will sing, and "[the Lord] has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth".

This reminder of past experience with God, how the Lord has already acted for the benefit of God's people, is a strong defense against the grip of fear. So, also, is our association with a community of faith that witnesses to God's saving deeds. How much easier it is to "trust and not be afraid" when a whole community is present to join together in the refrain!



The verse that ties these two songs together is addressed to the gathered community: "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (verse 3). In its historical setting, the verse probably refers to a ritual activity, most notably during the Feast of Tabernacles. As it connects the two songs, however, verse 3 is a reminder that God's salvation is fundamental to life, as basic to survival as the water that falls from the sky and springs forth from the earth.

God's offer of salvation is what the Lord "has done gloriously" to be made "known in all the earth"; it is this saving power that makes it possible for God's people to choose a stance of trust instead of fear when the day brings situations and events beyond their control (cf. Isaiah 41:17-20). The "wells of salvation" suggest an abundant supply, spilling over to soothe tongues that are parched from fright, moistening lips so that they might sing melodies of praise to "proclaim that [the Lord's] name is exalted".

What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?

The question can be boiled down to a fairly simple one:  with whom are you joining in chorus? 

Are you wailing and gnashing your teeth in fear and panic at the situation of the world that we are being presented with, or are you proclaiming that the Lord’s name is exalted? 

Are you being swayed by the voices that clamor for your attention, that would have you listen to THEM rather than to trust in God and God’s deliverance – God’s salvation – that transcends any given human condition? 

I’m not minimizing the human condition – those struggles and hardships, those sorrows and pains and frustrations and seemingly insurmountable obstacles are REAL.  We HAVE to deal with them. 

My question this morning is HOW? 

Will we deal with them from the standpoint of a people who are at the mercy of the powers and principalities of this earth, or from the standpoint of a people who are fully trusting; resting in the knowledge that the one who holds us in his hand is the one who will lead us through whatever circumstance we find ourselves in; not around it, or under it, or over it, but THROUGH it? 

If God himself did not avoid suffering while walking and living amongst us, who are we to attempt to avoid it? 

May we be found faithful.

Let’s pray.

With deep gratitude to Audrey West, 

Associate Professor of New Testament
Lutheran School of TheologyChicago, IL